strike paralyses court activities in Osun

 

In compliance with the directive by the national body of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), the Osun State chapter has also joined the ongoing strike action to press home their demands.

Going round some courts in Osogbo, the Osun State capital,  observed that they were little or no activities in compliance with the directive.

Most judiciary staff did not report to work as most court premises were empty especially the Osun High Court Complex, Oke-Fia. Only a handful of security staff could be seen.

The security staff who spoke to on enquiry stated that there was an ongoing strike, but their work was to make sure the compound was protected.

They stated that no judiciary staff would be allowed into the premises until another directive states otherwise.

 recalls that the national leadership of JUSUN had in a circular dated 1st of April, 2021 ordered a closure of all courts beginning from Tuesday, 6th April.

A circular signed by I. M. Adetola, it’s General Secretary, to all states and zonal heads of the union, revealed that the strike will be on until the government complies with the constitution, court judgments and other instruments, which confer or reemphasise the financial autonomy of the judiciary.

JUSUN at its last National Executive meeting on March 13, 2021 in Abuja, had issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government to implement the financial autonomy of the judiciary with a threat that “failure of which, JUSUN will have no other option but to resume the suspended national strike action.”

The strike would have commenced on Monday 5th April, 2021 but as a result of the public holiday, it was postponed to Tuesday, 6th April, 2021.”

 

INEC needs restructuring, blame Buhari for electoral bill – Jang

 

A former presidential aspirant in the 2019 general elections under the platform of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Jonah Jang, has said for Nigeria to have credible and successful elections, the nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must be restructured.

The former Governor also said the National Assembly should not be blamed for the lacuna in the country’s electoral system, since the 8th Assembly had passed the Electoral Bill but President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to sign it into law.

The immediate past Senator who represented Plateau North equally decried the non delineation of constituencies in the country, saying it’s over 20 years since it was last done.

Jang disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

He said, “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear about delineation of constituencies; that after every ten years, INEC is supposed to revisit the delineation exercise and they are supposed to do it according to the population of the area.

According to him, “This is the way they are handling the nation’s constitution.

“The areas that suits the powers that be, they use, while the one that doesn’t suit them, they don’t touch it,” he lamented.

“When was the last delineation of constituencies done in this country?” he asked.

“It’s over 20 years now, nobody wants to talk about it, because they know that it is helping their injustice over other areas,” he maintained.

The former Governor further explained that, “If INEC is truly independent, they are not supposed to take orders from anybody before embarking on any delineation, because it is a constitutional function; but because they have to go with the powers that be, they will not do it.

“That is why I have said, INEC is one of the areas that badly requires restructuring if we are going to have credible and successful elections in this country,” he stressed.

Speaking on the Electoral Bill, Jang who was the immediate past Senator that represented Plateau North in the 8th Senate, said, “Before we left the 8th Senate, and the House of Representatives, we passed the Electoral Bill, but the President refused to sign it into law, so don’t blame the National Assembly.

“Now I heard they are talking about Electoral Law again; what happened to the one we passed?” he asked.

Court activities paralysed as Kwara judiciary staff join nationwide strike

 

Activities were paralysed at law courts in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Tuesday, as the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, joined its counterparts across the country for an indefinite strike.

The issue of financial autonomy for the judiciary is the bone of contention, according to the state Chairman of the union, Comrade Ibrahim Sambo, who spoke to  at the premises of the state high court while enforcing compliance.

He said the nationwide strike was due to “the failure of state governors to carry out Executive Order 10 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari granting financial autonomy to the judiciary arm of government.”

Sambo lamented that contrary to what obtains in the executive and legislative arms of government in respect of financial autonomy, the judiciary had not been enjoying that same autonomy.

He hoped that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State would comply with the directive of the president to ensure financial autonomy for the judiciary.

When Correspondent visited the Ilorin high court premises at about 9a.m on Tuesday, the gates were under lock and key.

Litigants, lawyers and police personnel were seen outside the court premises in groups discussing the issue of the moment.

Mostly affected were some persons expected to have their bail issues determined and processed.

Reacting to the development, a legal practitioner, Barrister Afolabi Gambari, described the strike by the union as a waste of time and misplaced priority.

According to him, “There can be no good outcome from the strike, no coordination, no consensus, they will be invited and pocketed.”

He said there were similar strikes by the union in the past which never yielded positive results, adding that “he who pays the piper dictates the tune.”

A strike notice dated April 5,2021, pasted on the walls of the court premises read, “In compliance with the national directives regarding our financial autonomy, I hereby direct all judicial staff of Kwara state to comply with the directive that all courts are to shut down activities on 6th day of April, 2021”.

“All staff are advised to remain at home until further directives,” the notice signed jointly by the state chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Sambo and state Assistant Secretary, Ahmed M. Taofik, stated.

Polytechnics shut down as ASUP begins indefinite strike

 

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has commenced an indefinite strike nationwide.

Leadership of the union led by its president, Anderson Ezeibe made the announcement on Tuesday while addressing newsmen in Abuja.

According to him, the members of the union have vowed to shut down the Nigerian Polytechnics till the Federal Government meets their demands.

Recall that the FG on Monday invited officials of the Union to an emergency meeting over its proposed strike.

The minister of education, Adamu Adamu, had scheduled a meeting with the union on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued on Monday by Ben Bem Goong, spokesperson for the ministry of education, the meeting was to address the issues raised by ASUP in a bid to avert the planned strike.

News Imo prison break That’s what you get when Garba Shehu is now Nigeria’s President – Bamgbose

 

Olusegun Bamgbose, chieftain of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, has put the blame of the recent attack on Imo State police and prison facilities on the Presidency.

The senior lawyer said that this is what is expected in a situation where the President is out of the country to spend more than two weeks without a proper handover to his deputy.

According to Bamgbose, Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has now taken over the Presidency.

He also noted that the recent attack on the Imo State Correctional Services and Police Headquarters in Owerri clearly showed the inability of the country’s law enforcement agents to contain criminal activities.

The security situation has become worrisome. Things are getting worse everyday. This is really sad and very unfortunate,” he told

What could we expect when President Buhari refused to hand over power to his Vice when he traveled. Garba Shehu has taken over from Osinbajo. He is now the Presidency.

President Buhari is now ruling by proxy. Where are we really heading to in this country? APC has actually bastardised governance.

Things have fallen apart, the center can no more hold. The hoodlums, insurgents, bandits and unknown gunmen have taken over.

How on earth can we comprehend a situation whereby hoodlums sang solidarity song for thirty minutes at Government House roundabout, went ahead to operate for two hours without visible resistance and 1844 inmates were set free, we really need to shed tears for Nigeria.

Very soon Government Houses will be invaded, it’s a matter of time. I’m beginning to believe that President Buhari can no longer handle the affairs of this nation.

The fact remains that we are now like a country without a leader. What is Buhari still doing in UK when he is supposed to come back to Nigeria and rescue his subjects.

The issue is that Nigerians are really tired of Buhari. It’s most unfortunate that the National Assembly has become very inactive in confronting President Buhari.

One would have expected them to be proactive in gingering the President to act decisively or in the alternative commence impeachment proceedings against him.

One could remember how Buhari tackled Jonathan in 2014 as a result of insecurity. The situation is now worse. It’s time for Nigerians to prevail on Buhari to resign if he can’t secure Nigerians.

Certainly we can’t continue like this. This government is now becoming bloody. Nigeria is falling apart. In the circumstance, one will still suggest the need for National Security Summit, NSS.

We can’t just fold our hands and allow bandits and hoodlums turn Nigeria into a war theater. Buhari should either step up or step down,” he said.

 

Bishop Kukah: Garba Shehu’s reaction most unholy – Rev. Hayab

 

The chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Kaduna State Chapter, Rev. Joseph Hayab, has condemned the Special Assistant to the President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu, over his attack on Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah’s Easter message on the insecurity in the country.

The Bishop of Sokoto in his Easter message, had lamented the precarious state of insecurity in Nigeria, describing Nigeria as a “killing field”, a message that did not go down well with the presidency.

According to Hayab, it is actually Garba Shehu’s comments that are both ungodly and unholy and not Bishop Kukah’s as claimed by the presidency, stressing that Garba Shehu had since his assumption as the spokesman of the government caused great embarrassment to the country.

Speaking at a special CAN Easter prayer session for Peace and Security in the State and Nigeria, Monday in Kaduna, Rev. Hayab further frowned at why the Revered Cleric is always being singled out for attacks by the presidency and the likes of Garba Shehu, anytime he speaks the truth to those in power.

According to the state chairman, “Anytime Bishop Kukah speaks truth to power, we hear people coming out to challenge him and the word used by Garba Shehu is simply that Kukah’s message is ungodly or unholy. l want Garba Shehu to know that he’s the one making ungodly messages to Nigerians.

“If Garba Shehu will be man enough to go back, sit and listen to himself in the past six years, he (Garba Shehu) has caused this country so much embarrassment from his statements. When Kukah asked them to do what is right, is that what he did wrong?”

He further enquired, “l want to even answer him because he said Kukah should go to Adamawa or Borno to find out that people will tell him life is now better. In which country, are we not in Nigeria or is Garba Shehu living in the federal republic of another country not Nigeria?

“I can tell you what is happening in Borno, what is happening in Yobe, just as they think they have the privilege of information, we also have. The church is virtually everywhere, a lot of our members have been victims, so we know the story, we know the pains they go through, so there’s nothing that has changed in terms of security challenges in parts of the country.

“So we cannot celebrate our government just because we just want to please anybody in government. We want to tell our government the truth because we want them to be better and do what is just.”

While commending Kukah for his patriotism as one Nigerian that has been that voice that is consistent in saying the truth, he noted that “the country does not want the truth because people are afraid to say what Nigerians are going through. If we keep quiet, evil will come and take us on our beds, but when we speak, we may help the president, governors, the IG, service chiefs to know what they do not know.”

According to him, “what is happening today is that they (government) don’t listen to Nigerians, they only pay attention to praise singers.”

News : Buhari supporters were paid £75 to protest – Omokri alleges

 

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters were paid £75 bribe to protest at the Abuja house in London.

Buhari’s supporters stormed the area on Monday with placards in support of President Buhari.

The rally is sequel to an anti-Buhari protest led by Omokri at the same Abuja House where Buhari is reportedly staying as he undergoes a medical check-up.

Omokri had on Friday led a protest demanding that the president returns to Nigeria without going through his medicals.

Reacting to the protest in support of Buhari’s visit to the UK, Omokri who alleged that the government paid supporters, described the act as shameful.

On his Twitter page, the former Presidential spokesman wrote: “Dear Garba Shehu, Is this all you guys could do despite your £75 per head bribe? Garba, admit it, you and your government are thoroughly shameless. Without paying anyone one kobo, I was able to sustain Harass Buhari out of London for days and we will continue. Shame on you.

“Shame on General Buhari, their so-called ‘solidarity rally’ for Buhari at Abuja House flopped, with only 5 people turning up, despite the £75 per head they paid. El-Rufai is this the best you guys can do to counter #HarassBuhariOutofLondon. Better demand a refund of your bribe.”